Showing the Money: Using Volunteer Grants to Communicate Impact
Volunteers are often the unsung backbone of nonprofit operations, doing essential work behind the scenes. But how do you bring that value to the...
14 min read
Timothy Sarazen
Apr 8, 2026 12:01:18 AM
Proving the ROI of your corporate social responsibility (CSR) program to leadership becomes nearly impossible when volunteer hours live in one spreadsheet, donation data sits in another system, and employee engagement surveys are tracked separately.
Many CSR teams find themselves spending more time wrangling data than actually driving impact. Worse, when executives ask for concrete metrics on employee participation or community outcomes, piecing together a coherent story from disconnected tools can take days of manual work.
Most CSR teams make one of two mistakes: either they buy an expensive all-in-one platform when they really only need one aspect of corporate social responsibility, or they rely on spreadsheets and manual tracking. The key is matching your platform choice to what your program actually lacks right now, not what you think you might need someday.
CSR platforms typically fall into one of four categories, each solving a different core problem:
With these categories in mind, the following corporate social responsibility tools stand out as top-tier solutions to help make your CSR program a bigger success.
If your main goal is getting more employees to volunteer and tracking the results, this category is your starting point. Corporate volunteering platforms help HR, CSR, or ESG leads manage events, log hours, and report on participation. Key features typically include:
Below are some of the more well-established options in this category.

Volunteer Link is a corporate volunteering software platform that gives employees access to over 60,000 verified nonprofits through a single login. Employees use your company's existing single sign-on (SSO) credentials to find and sign up for volunteer opportunities across the entire Get Connected network, so there are no separate accounts or passwords needed.
You control which opportunities employees see first. Highlight a day of service, elevate opportunities supporting a specific cause, or feature a weekend initiative tied to company values. The branded portal puts your priorities front and center while employees maintain the freedom to explore the full network.
The platform tracks who's participating and translates volunteer hours into dollar values through automated reporting. You get impact data broken down by geography (local, state, and national) so you can show leadership and stakeholders what your program accomplishes and how employees benefit from corporate volunteering.
Key Features
Pricing
Custom pricing available upon request.
Connect your employee volunteer program to over 200,000 annual opportunities and get hours and corporate impact tracking. Learn more about Volunteer Link here.

Goodera organizes corporate volunteer events globally through an extensive network of nonprofit partners. Each event is hosted by a Goodera ambassador who facilitates the session, manages icebreakers and group activities, and coordinates logistics in multiple languages. Goodera offers virtual, in-person, and hybrid volunteer opportunities across different cause areas, with companies able to nominate their own local nonprofits for program inclusion.
Key Features
Advantages
Shortcomings
Pricing
Custom pricing available upon request.

onHand is a corporate volunteering platform that connects employees to local volunteer opportunities and coordinates managed group volunteering events. The platform includes tools for employee donations with matched giving options, sustainability and wellbeing tracking, and engagement features to drive participation. It works with charities and NGOs globally to provide extensive volunteering options.
Key Features
Advantages
Shortcomings
Pricing
Custom pricing available upon request.

Millie is a workplace giving platform that manages employee donations with matching programs, volunteer opportunities, and campaigns organized around events or cause areas. The platform includes tools for creating drives (food drives, clothing drives, trash pickups), employee resource group (ERG) management, and analytics for tracking participation and impact.
Key Features
Advantages
Shortcomings
Pricing
Custom pricing available upon request.
If your priority is moving money to nonprofits through employee giving, corporate matching, or grant disbursement, these platforms handle the financial infrastructure. They're typically purchased by corporate philanthropy teams running structured giving programs or nonprofits trying to unlock employer matches. Some of the key features offered:
These are some of the best options in this category.

Double the Donation is a matching gift platform that integrates with donation forms, peer-to-peer fundraising tools, and CRMs to surface corporate matching opportunities in real time. When a donor contributes, the platform checks their employer eligibility and prompts them to submit a match request before they leave the page.
The platform maintains a database of corporate matching gift, volunteer grant, and payroll giving programs. For select employers, Double the Donation can automatically submit matching gift requests to the company on behalf of donors during the donation process, eliminating the need for donors to visit separate employer portals.
Key Features
Advantages
Shortcomings
Pricing
Starts at $300 per year for up to $2,000 identified as match eligible.

360MatchPro is a matching gift platform for nonprofits that identifies donor eligibility for corporate matching programs and automates follow-up communications. The platform provides search functionality that integrates into donation forms and website embeds that allow donors to check their eligibility and view program details.
Key Features
Advantages
Shortcomings
Pricing
Custom pricing available on request.

Uncommon Giving is a workplace giving platform that provides each employee with a portable donor-advised fund where they can deposit money and donate to nonprofits at any time. The platform manages matching gifts, volunteer programs, dollars-for-doers, and payroll deductions with automated disbursements.
Key Features
Advantages
Shortcomings
Pricing
Custom pricing available on request.

Percent Pledge is an employee giving and volunteering platform that provides access to charities and volunteer opportunities globally. It handles donation matching, volunteer time off, and dollars-for-doers programs with real-time CSR reporting as well as full-service volunteer event planning.
Key Features
Advantages
Shortcomings
Pricing
Custom pricing available on request.

Selflessly is a corporate giving and volunteering platform that manages employee donations, matching gifts, payroll deductions, and volunteer activities. The platform connects employees to volunteer opportunities for both local and virtual volunteering, supports global giving in multiple currencies, and includes tools for organizing ERGs.
Key Features
Advantages
Shortcomings
Pricing
Custom pricing available on request.
These platforms serve as one system of record for volunteerism, giving, grants, and ESG impact. They're typically purchased by large enterprises and ESG-compliant public companies that need to manage all CSR functions in a single platform. Key features include:
The tradeoff is that these platforms are often costly, slower to implement, and can be overkill for mid-size teams who only need one or two CSR capabilities.
Here are some of the most popular options in this category.

Benevity is an enterprise impact platform that combines employee volunteering, charitable giving, grantmaking, challenges, and ERGs in one system. It handles the full corporate social impact program workflow, from employee engagement tools to compliance and reporting. The platform includes a database of vetted nonprofit opportunities where employees can find volunteer shifts, donate to causes, or propose their own community projects.
Key Features
Advantages
Shortcomings
Pricing
Custom pricing available on request.

YourCause is an all-in-one CSR software platform that manages employee giving, volunteering, matching gifts, grantmaking, and ERGs. The platform automates donation matching, tracks volunteer participation, and handles both in-person and virtual opportunities through a single system. Companies can incentivize volunteer hours with financial rewards or paid time off and use skills-based matching to connect employees with projects that fit their professional expertise.
Key Features
Advantages
Shortcomings
Pricing
Custom pricing available on request.

Bonterra is an all-in-one CSR software platform that manages employee giving, volunteering, and grantmaking. The platform centralizes donation processing, volunteer hour tracking, and grant distribution while providing cross-program analytics and reporting. Bonterra includes gamification features to increase employee participation and provides nonprofits with coaching, fundraising technology, and peer learning to help them build sustainability beyond grant dependency.
Key Features
Advantages
Shortcomings
Pricing
Custom pricing available on request.

Deed combines employee giving, volunteering, grants, ERGs, and small-action campaigns in a single platform. The platform includes donation matching, nonprofit vetting, and tools for creating reward and incentive programs. Deed has AI-powered tools to create campaigns and validate donation receipts, and it offers mobile access so employees who don't have desk jobs can easily participate in giving and volunteering.
Key Features
Advantages
Shortcomings
Pricing
Custom pricing available on request.
These platforms help administer complex grant cycles and corporate foundation disbursements. They're typically purchased by corporate foundations and the philanthropic arms of businesses that need to manage formal grantmaking processes.
Key features include:
These are some of the top options.

Submittable manages grants, employee giving, volunteering, and community investment programs. The platform serves corporations, foundations, government agencies, and nonprofits with tools for application management, fund distribution, and impact reporting. It partners with Bright Funds for employee giving programs and WeHero for managed volunteer events.
Key Features
Advantages
Shortcomings
Pricing
Custom pricing available on request.

Fluxx is a grants management platform that handles the full grantmaking cycle from application intake to payment processing and reporting. The platform serves foundations, government agencies, and nonprofits with tools for managing grant applications, tracking funding decisions, and monitoring post-award requirements. It has purpose-built analytics and reporting tools for grantmaking, allowing organizations to track funding patterns, measure impact, and make data-driven decisions.
Key Features
Advantages
Shortcomings
Pricing
Custom pricing available on request.
Volunteer Link is built for companies that want a dedicated employee volunteer program without the complexity of a full-suite CSR platform. The platform connects your workforce to over 60,000 verified nonprofits and over 200,000 annual opportunities across the country, giving you the infrastructure to run a professional volunteer program without building it from scratch.
You control which opportunities appear first in your branded portal. That means you can promote a company-wide service day, feature a cause campaign, or highlight local partnerships while employees retain access to the full network.
Employees can browse opportunities by location, cause area, team size, or schedule. Then, they register directly without your team managing individual nonprofit relationships or vetting organizations.
Why Volunteer Link works for volunteerism-focused programs:
Get a demo of Volunteer Link to see how it increases employee participation, improves CSR programs, and simplifies impact reporting.
Featured Posts
Volunteers are often the unsung backbone of nonprofit operations, doing essential work behind the scenes. But how do you bring that value to the...
Managing corporate volunteer programs through spreadsheets and email chains often results in missed opportunities, lost volunteer hours, and...